Better photos uploaded. Got the car home today. I definitely enjoyed the ride. Unfortunately the replacement tire did not come in today so I'll definitely be following up with NTB tomorrow. For now I'm just happy to have the car home.
After spending several hours waiting for the replacement tire to arrive at NTB...the tire arrived at 3:30. I took it and made it to Curry's Auto Service in about 6 minutes. From there Tim Hoover, the General Manager at that location (616 South Pickett Street, Alexandria, VA) and crew went to work. With the use of the Auto34 tire changer it took less than 5 minutes. Here Alejandro Espinoza starts the mounting process.
Alejandro and Tim get the tire into proper position
Off to balancing...
Here is where Patrick Bowe took over to mount the wheels. Since the car is so low we had to put it on the Hunter Alignment Rack. Then it was off with the old...
and on with the new
We did discover the lug nuts I used with the TSW wheels would not work with the Forgeline wheels. This required a quick trip to Advance Auto Parts around the corner. When Tim learned of the situation he handed me his keys and let me go get the lug nuts we needed. When I got to Advance Auto Parts, Clifton sold me the last set of M12x1.50 tuner lug nuts he had and they worked perfectly. Additionally they gave the wheels a much better appearance than the hex nuts.
Doesn't the 285 look tiny compared to the 325??? "PUNY TIRE!"
And then there was one!!!
REPLACED!!!
And the calculations were acceptable regarding the offsets
And then to the alignment completed by David Levin...
A very special thank you to Tim, Alejandro, Patrick, and David at the Alexandria, VA Curry's Auto Service for being able to complete this task without issue. Their equipment is definitely top end and for my fellow Fiero owners here in Northern VA...they'll take care of you. They were all very impressed with the work Dave did. I promised Tim I'd let him take my car for a spin on a dry day. When they finished the alignment it was a torrential downpour
Now that the car has settled I'll need to raise the front about an inch. The rear tires fit very nicely now. I'll be working on that tomorrow morning ...weather dependent of course. Next week's task...back to the paint shop to have the chips in the front removed and some touch up.
[This message has been edited by Charlie64 (edited 10-22-2012).]
Auto34 tire changer it took less than 5 minutes. A very special thank you to Tim and crew at Curry's Auto Service for being able to complete this task without issue. Their equipment is definitely top end and for my fellow Fiero owners here in Northern VA...they'll take care of you.
Top notch equipment there, especially the alignment where it doesn't touch the rim (less chance of poking it like the old style).
Hey Charlie64, did you take any pics of the backside while the car was on the lift? I'd like to see how close the inner barrel was to the coil-over. Thanks.
Sorry Curly. I didn't get any pictures under the rack. I did see plenty of clearance from where Dave removed the stock strut perch. I could have safely gone up to 19 or 20x12 with 345s. If the weather here is not user friendly tomorrow morning I might just have to go back to Curry's and see if they'll put it on the rack to adjust the front shocks.
[This message has been edited by Charlie64 (edited 10-19-2012).]
Dear Santa, Please look at this car in the above pics. Could you please bring me one of these. I'll ask for nothing else and I'll be a good boy for the ummm 2 years.
Here's how today went. Got up early this morning...decided to wipe the car down and saw how much the suspension resettled with the new wheels and tires. The rear tires were both at about 1.5" of clearance from the fender. The front right was at about .75" while the left front was a bit lower...between .25 and .5 of clearance from the fender. I learned while driving the car today this was causing the tire to rub on the fender anytime I hit a bump, made a turn, or came to a sudden halt.
Fortunately there was no damage to the fender or tire. I spoke to Dave earlier this morning after seeing the car in daylight and he explained how to make the adjustment. I thought I would have the shop do it since I didn't really want to roll the vehicle onto lawn concrete squares to get my floor jack under the car, but that didn't work out. Too many errands and besides I was enjoying driving the car on this beautiful day here...just doing it with extra caution. First I didn't have the spanner wrench for my HAL QA1 coilover shocks
so with Dave's guidance I was able to come up with an effective alternate tool from Sears
After bringing my youngest daughter (who was more excited about the car being home again than I was) to all of her Saturday activities we were finally home so I decided to get the jack, jack stands, and concrete square out. Dave told me how easy the task was and he was right. Glad he doesn't charge for phone support I was able to adjust both sides to about 1.4" of fender clearance.
Once I figured out how to do it the adjustments were pretty easy and quick. After driving the car this evening the right side is holding steady at about 1.4" of clearance. The left side has come down slightly, but the tire is no longer rubbing the fender on bumps, turns, or sudden stops. I'll adjust it again tomorrow and monitor it. I was also able to find the issue with my bright lights with Dave's suggestion. I unplugged the adapter harness for my projector headlights from the factory plug...used one of my old hi/low bulbs and found the circuits were functioning normally. In the end one of the prongs from the aftermarket harness plug in had become indented into the plug and wasn't making contact on the associated hi-beam lead. Problem fixed. I'm all set with the paint shop for touch-up and chip removal this coming week. Once completed I'll be posting new photos from an actual photo shoot with a scenic background other than my driveway.
One of the most gratifying moments today was when two guys pulled up next to me at a traffic light after being behind me honking their horn to tell me how totally BAD ASS my car is I'm certainly enjoying this attention.
One of the most gratifying moments today was when two guys pulled up next to me at a traffic light after being behind me honking their horn to tell me how totally BAD ASS my car is I'm certainly enjoying this attention.
It's very gratifying. I'm getting so many compliments on the body...then I start the car and it becomes a whole new conversation. As far as the wheels go guys like Curly, Troy, and Tony were my inspiration. Maybe now my car would be welcome in the company of their awesome machines
My 9 yr old has decided this is going to be her car so I guess I'll have to start researching for the next one...LS7/F40! I'm keeping an eye on Troy's thread regarding how his drivetrain is holding up with all that power.
Today when I was finally able to give my car some attention...I checked to see if I needed to make further adjustment to the front coilovers. Fortunately everything remained unchanged. Next I changed the Sears Platinum battery which Dave had to replace a few months ago with an Optima Yellow Top. The Sears battery wasn't even a year old and was a replacement for one I put in the car last August. That's three batteries in a little over a year. Anyway, I also installed new leather e-brake and shifter boot with yellow quad stitching. I am very pleased with how they came out.
Then it was time for a drive. Too bad there was so much traffic coming back home.
Gratifying experience of the day....on the way home today the driver of a Porsche Cayman next to me was locked in STARE mode looking at my car. It was a "holy crap...that's hotter than my Porsche"...
It gets better. At the off ramp an older guy in an Acura pulled up next to me...gestured for me to roll my window down and asked me what kind of car it was. When I told him it was a Fiero he said "Really? It's bad ass!"
I'm enjoying this attention thing
Dropping the car off at the paint shop tomorrow for touchup. When I pick it up I'm going to do a photo spread. Trying to emulate you BIG DAWGS out there.
[This message has been edited by Charlie64 (edited 10-23-2012).]
Gratifying experience of the day....on the way home today the driver of a Porsche Cayman next to me was locked in STARE mode looking at my car. It was a "holy crap...that's hotter than my Porsche"...
It gets better. At the off ramp an older guy in an Acura pulled up next to me...gestured for me to roll my window down and asked me what kind of car it was. When I told him it was a Fiero he said "Really? It's bad ass!"
I'm enjoying this attention thing
Man, this is going to be good!
Dropping the car off at the paint shop tomorrow for touchup. When I pick it up I'm going to do a photo spread. Trying to emulate you BIG DAWGS out there.
Dropped the car off at the paint shop this morning. By this afternoon the entire car had been sanded and all the road rash up front had been resurfaced. They decided to paint the whole car for a uniform color appearance so they're going to call me before they start tomorrow so I can get pictures of them painting the car.
How do you feel about the 19" wheels in the back vs the 20" a lot of the other widebody guys are running ?
They look great in pics, but are you happy with the way they fill out the wheel well and the stance ? i like my cars to sit low, which is why i too may be leaning towards 19" vs the dubs.
i was waiting anxiously to see how yours came out.
tell those guys at maaco that if they get overspray on the engine after I spent so many hours on it, I will just throw the rope over the bathroom door.
Dropped the car off at the paint shop this morning. By this afternoon the entire car had been sanded and all the road rash up front had been resurfaced. They decided to paint the whole car for a uniform color appearance so they're going to call me before they start tomorrow so I can get pictures of them painting the car.
Heck, you might as well add a Camero wing from V8Archie since they're starting over with fresh paint.
I went and saw my car at the shop yesterday. I have a few more things I want them to do, but overall the car came out far superior to the last paint job. I hope everyone will be as impressed as I was when I post the new pictures. Besides...the car was safer in the shop during the storm than in front of my house. I'm looking forward to picking it up after work tomorrow.
WOW! That thing would be completely awesome if it had an un-stretched Countach body on it! Just Kidding Madcurl Looks great – one of the best builds to date. Drive it with Pride.
Charlie64, that a nice modded fiero you got there.
I'm impressed with the alignment shop...its very, very clean and tidy. That's the way a shop should be. Man, its discouraging when you bring a nice car in and the shop is newer that the car you own, but the shop is a friggen mess. I don't know how mechanics can work when their tool box is out of order. There's not a trace of grease on the alignment rack.
I see they have a newer style rack by Hunter. At least they can't have an excuse for scratching your rims...
Good job !!
------------------ fierogt28
88 GT, Loaded, 5-speed. 88 GT, 5-speed. All original.
Top notch equipment there, especially the alignment where it doesn't touch the rim (less chance of poking it like the old style).
I'm certainly enjoying this attention.
